^^^
Tylor's actually just thinking about getting White Castle
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| After the 24 hour curing process |
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| The filets after being smoked |
Now that its beginning to warm up outside, It's time to fire up the smoker, baby! These pictures are from some salmon filets I smoked last fall. Smoking food is one of the oldest techniques used to preserve food. Many people know smoke makes things taste fantastic, take bacon for instance. However, many people have no idea that the components of smoke actually have antimicrobial effects. Also, before smoking, many meats are cured. This has two purposes. First of all, curing meats helps decrease the microbial load on the surface of the food, keeping the food safe for consumption longer. Smoking alone isn't enough to ensure food is properly preserved. Curing penetrates all the way through the food where as smoking adds an extra layer of protection to the outside which many people call the smoke ring. Salt, Sugar, and nitrites are the three main ingredients used in a cure. Covering the meat in curing agents greatly increases osmotic pressure. This high osmotic pressure inhibits microbes from moving nutrients and water through its cellular membranes and disrupts many cellular activities. Secondly, curing adds a great deal of flavor. When the meat is covered in the salt and sugar, it very quickly absorbs the flavorings used in the cure. Curing also makes meats more tender. Many meats contain salt soluble proteins (SSP's). These proteins break down very easily in the presence of salt, which luckily for us, is the main ingredient in our cure. When these proteins break down, the meat becomes much more tender, versus if the meat had not been cured and the proteins were still intact. After the curing process, it's time to hit the smoker. A smoker works by filling a chamber (the smoker) with smoke and heat from burning wood chips. The most commonly used woods are hickory, maple, oak, mesquite, cherry, or apple wood. Each wood imparts its own unique flavor profile but they all induce the same chemical changes. Phenols, phenolic compounds, acetic acid, and other organic components found in smoke act as antioxidants as well as antimicrobial agents. Now, when I say antioxidants, I'm not addressing the main stream connotation that has formed around their new found health benefits. Antioxidants keep things from oxidizing. Rusting metal is a form of oxidation and when it happens to food its about as yummy as a rusty piece of steel. The antioxidants prevent oxygen from binding to fats in the meat, thus slowing the rancidification process. No one will want to eat your smelly beef jerky, and no that was not a euphimism. The smoke also causes color changes in the meat, as you can see from the pictures. Now that we know a little of the science behind smoking, lets put it into practice. RECIPE TIME!
Ingredients (Cure)
1 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon crused black peppercorns
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 large salmon filets or sides, pin bones removed
In a bowl, mix together the salt, sugar, brown sugar, peppercorns, and soy sauce. Next lay out a peice if aluminum foil a little longer than the fish. Place a peice of plastic wrap of equal length on top of the foil. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cure on to the plastic wrap. Lay one of the filets skin side down on to the cure. Take another third of cure and sprinkle on top of the filet. Place the second filet, flesh side down, on top of the first filet. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/3 of the cure. Fold the plastic over the fish and then tightly fold the foil over that, closing the edges and crimping to seal tightly. Place the fish onto a sheet pan and then place another sheetpan on top of the fish. Weigh with a heavy phonebook or brick or two. Refrigerate for 12 hours. Flip the fish over and refrigerate another 12 hours. After the second 12 hours, remove the fish and rinse with cold water to remove the cure. Pat the salmon dry with a paper towl and allow to sit in a cool, dry place (not the fridge) until the surface is dry and matte-like. Smoke the fish over woodchips at 150 to 160 degrees F until the thickest part of the fish hits 150 degrees. Time veries greatly depending on the smoker so you will just have to keep a close eye on the temp of the smoker and the fish.
Happy Eating,
Tylor
